1′,5′‐Anhydrohexitol Oligonucleotides: Hybridisation and Strand Displacement with Oligoribonucleotides, Interaction with RNase H and HIV Reverse Transcriptase

Hexitol nucleic acids (HNAs) with four natural bases form stable and sequence‐selective duplexes with RNA. This was investigated by Tm determinations and gel shift experiments. The CD spectra of an HNA‐RNA duplex show similarities with the CD spectra of the A‐form of dsRNA. Single‐stranded HNAs are able to induce strand displacement in a double‐stranded RNA sequence. An HNA‐RNA duplex is a poor substrate for RNase H, and can inhibit the RNase H‐mediated cleavage of a natural DNA‐RNA substrate. The HNA‐RNA hybrid enhances the activity of HIV reverse transcriptase.